Nonlinear Sciences > Pattern Formation and Solitons

Title:
Road planning with slime mould: If Physarum built motorways it would route M6/M74 through Newcastle

Abstract: Plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum is a single cell visible by unaided eye.
During its foraging behaviour the cell spans spatially distributed sources of
nutrients with a protoplasmic network. Geometrical structure of the
protoplasmic networks allows the plasmodium to optimize transfer of nutrients
between remote parts of its body, to distributively sense its environment, and
make a decentralized decision about further routes of migration. We consider
the ten most populated urban areas in United Kingdom and study what would be an
optimal layout of transport links between these urban areas from the
"plasmodium's point of view". We represent geographical locations of urban
areas by oat flakes, inoculate the plasmodium in Greater London area and
analyse the plasmodium's foraging behaviour. We simulate the behaviour of the
plasmodium using a particle collective which responds to the environmental
conditions to construct and minimise transport networks. Results of our scoping
experiments show that during its colonization of the experimental space the
plasmodium forms a protoplasmic network isomorphic to a network of major
motorways except the motorway linking England with Scotland. We also imitate
the reaction of transport network to disastrous events and show how the
transport network can be reconfigured during natural or artificial cataclysms.
The results of the present research lay a basis for future science of
bio-inspired urban and road planning.